


Vengeance and Ribbons

by Measured



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-18
Packaged: 2018-04-26 21:13:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5020726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured/pseuds/Measured
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lissa falls injured against Grima, Maribelle goes on a rampage against Grima.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vengeance and Ribbons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Samuraiter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samuraiter/gifts).



> cottoncandy_bingo: running out of time. Does this count as Barabelle? I think it does. She's a Valkyrie here. Happy birthday, Samuraiter! 
> 
> Thanks to Amiiti for the beta.

Naga had saved them once, but the second strike, like shards of magic glass thrust deep under their skin, was not so easily saved. Sumia tried to steady her pegasus, driven awry with pain, red staining its matted coat. Another set of wings burst in, Cordelia rushing past her own wounds.

"This way!" Cordelia called, shepherding Sumia away from another rain of arrows.

The skies had turned black with what they could only guess was an eternal night caused by Grima's powers. Even cloaked in the dark mist, Maribelle pressed on. Though she had lost sight of the others in the murkiness, she held up her glowing staff like a torch. Wounds faded in the light as she passed by Vaike, Sumia and others, but not Lissa.

"Lissa!" Maribelle called. "Lissa, darling, where are you?"

All around her in the fog was the sound of fighting. She couldn't tell if the cries of agony were from her own army or Grima's, but one cry stood out among them. A voice she'd known almost all her life, one that she could tell, even across a crowded battlefield.

"Lissa!"

She raced through the darkness to find Lissa lain upon the ground with a wound so deep, her vestments had been soaked through with blood.

Maribelle dismounted as fast as she could and rushed to her side. The battle continued on, but the wounded would have to simply attend to themselves. Libra could save their lives, or pray for their souls.

"Lissa! Speak to me, darling!"

Lissa didn't respond. Her skin was still warm, and yet she would not respond. Even as she held the staff above her, and the wounds disappeared, Lissa did not wake.

She turned on the fiend, the other tactician laughed. The sky was a storm of darkness with hints of a destroyed future on the horizon. And Lissa, _her_ Lissa, had fallen.

Maribelle pulled out the ribbons of her shirt and from her hair. She looked a fright, a monster from a fairy tale, but this no longer mattered. The sun of her life had been extinguished.

She hoisted Lissa up onto her horse and used the ribbons to tie her to the saddle. She wanted to cup her cheeks, kiss her alive again, like a fairy tale, but no spark of life was left. And nothing would be left of this dragon, or this world, when she was done.

"Go on to Libra, let him bargain with Naga for her life, before I make Naga demand my forgiveness," Maribelle said.

Her horse let out one last whinny before it disappeared into the haze.

She turned towards the fell tactician. "How dare you touch her with your unworthy, unclean magic!"

Laughter greeted her. The fiend dared smirk at her. "Inconsequential human, her loss will not be missed."

"This will be the last smile you ever know, foul beast!"

Magic wasn't enough. In times like these, ladylike delicacy had to be set aside. She quickly closed the distance, pulling her trusty parasol out. The sudden appearance of her accessory surprised the fell tactician just long enough to catch her unguarded. Maribelle smacked the other tactician square across the jaw. Before the tactician could respond, Maribelle leapt on top of her, and continued her assault.

As she struck the enemy tactician, Grima also writhed in pain, unable to strike back. Maribelle struck with all her might over and over, hardly noticing as her clothes and parasol were stained with red. Bloodied and bruised, the fell tactician could only let out a whimper in reply. 

"Give me back Lissa! Give her _back_!"

Maribelle's scream was a long plaintive cry, the first part of mourning which would take over her whole life. Death would be a gift compared to a life without Lissa.

"Maribelle, hold, Lissa still lives!" Chrom said, speaking above the din of the battlefield.

"She...lives?" Maribelle said in a small voice.

"She was merely knocked out," Libra said.

In the moment of pause, the fell tactician pushed her off. The magic hit her with such force that it felt like she was being held by iron, a weight enough to crush her. But the thought, _Lissa lives_ , steeled her.

She pushed herself back up. Her parasol was bent beyond repair.

"No, Chrom. Let me take this," Robin said. "Even a creature like Grima doesn't deserve Maribelle's wrath."

Leaning on Libra, Lissa lifted her arms in a cheer. "Fight! Tear her hair out!" 

"Of course, darling. Vaike, quick! Throw me that axe! I'm going to cut this eyesore into pieces!"

Lucina pushed through the fog, her Falchion cutting strips of light through the dragon's magic.

"But, the prophecy!" Lucina protested.

Maribelle pulled her gloves down, and turned on the shuddering dragon. "When I'm done with this _thing_ there'll be nothing left to revive."

"Yeah! Show that beast what you're made of, Maribelle!" Lissa and Vaike lifted up a cheer. The others could only watch as the fell tactician was knocked into the sea in one valiant charge, and Maribelle sunk her axe into the dragon's skull again and again.

Plegia and Ylisse may have fallen to Grima's plans, but he hadn't counted on Maribelle.

*

From the wreckage of what had once been Grima, the Ylissian army emerged. With not a single casualty, not even their tactician, they wearily made their way back towards home. In the forests, friends, family and lovers alike embraced. No risen remained here, nor brigands. Finally, a sense of peace and relief settled across them.

The borrowed axe had broken, so Maribelle was empty handed as she led her horse up the hills. She limped in tattered clothes, soaked in dragon's black blood and shards of bone.

"Maribelle! You saved the world!" 

Maribelle tied the reins of her horse to a tree, and turned towards the voice. Lissa ran to her, leaves in her hair and so utterly dirty. Her tomboy princess, her light. Lissa reached out to touch Maribelle's cheeks.

"Darling, I'm a mess. If you come near me, you'll be covered in dragon blood. If I touched you, I'd sully you," she said.

"Don't be silly! You were amazing out there! So- so brave and incredible. Like a real hero," she said, and flushed slightly.

"I thought I'd lost you," Maribelle said. She buried her face against Lissa's shoulders. "I couldn't imagine living in a world like that. Facing death was far less frightening than something like that."

"I'm way more hardy than that," Lissa said.

"You'd better be, or I'd personally go to death and tell him 'bring back my darling, or face my parasol!'"

Lissa laughed, and held Maribelle closer to her.

"I don't even think she's joking at this point," Chrom said. Beside him, Robin smiled.

"Me neither," Robin said.

"Oh, I'll buy you new clothes, and a new parasol for me. When we get back to the capitol, it'll be a long break for both of us."

"I'm really looking forward to it. But, I'd look forward to being with you, even if we were going to battle again," Lissa said.

"Me too, my darling. Me too."

Hand in hand, they walked towards Maribelle's horse, and towards a life of peace.

*

Epilogue:

Maribelle: Dragonslayer Magistrate  
Lissa: Sprightly Cleric.  
And so, after the dread dragon was almost single handedly destroyed in a fit of rage by Maribelle, she grew feared and respected around the land. Despite the prophecies, Maribelle was so thorough in her wrath, that nothing was left to ever be raised again. She married her darling Lissa, and they had two sons together. By what means or magic, it was not known. No one dared risk Maribelle's temper to find out.

The land was filled with peace, for no one ever dared attack Ylisse, where the woman who destroyed dragons, and her beloved dwelled.


End file.
